Self-lifting locking cap for aerosol containers and the like



April 7, 1964 J. w. SOFFER 3,128,004

ISELF-LIFTING LOCKING CAP FOR AEROSOL CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE Filed April 12, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l INV E NTOR JACK W. SOFFER ATTO RN EY April 7, 1964 J. w. SOFFER 3,128,004

VSELF-LIFTING LOCKING CAP FOR AEROSOL CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE Filed April 12, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JACK W- SOFFER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,128,004 SELF-LWTING LGCKING CAP FOR AEROSOL CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE lack W. Soifer, St. Louis, Mo., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Ciayton (Jorporation of Delaware, Et.

Louis, Md, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 12, 1962, Ser. No. 186,975 7 Claims. (Cl. 22tl27) This invention relates to protective caps or valve covers for containers such as are used for packing so-called aerosol products. The valve for such a container is often mounted in a metal mounting cup having a rounded annular lip fitted over the container mouth; and the protective cap fits over and engages the mounting cup lip.

The present invention represents improvements on that type of molded plastic cap shown in the application of Lawrence E. Bucher, Richard C. Hug and William C. Eastin, Serial No. 835,746, now Patent No. 3,028,992, issued April 10, 1962.

The objects of the present invention include: Providing a cap with a retention tooth in its rim and a lever which both disengages the tooth and lifts the cap rim from the container mouth; also one that utilizes the elastic deflection characteristics of the plastic material to permit easy withdrawal of the tooth without breaking the cap; also one which, when the tooth is disengaged, tends to draw or snap itself elastically off the container mouth. Other objects will be apparent from this specification.

In brief, these objects are achieved by providing a cap of elastically-deflective plastic material, in whose lower rim is an inward-extending locking tooth with a slidable camming pressure pad on the inner surface directly above the tooth. A perforated line extends up from near the bottom of the rim, from one side of the tooth, over the pad, and down the other side. A lever projecting outward and upward from the tooth may be squeezed inward, thus pressing the slidable camming portion against the rounded lip of the mounting cup. The locking tooth is thus rotated and drawn outward; the camming portion slides over the rounded mounting cup lip; and the rim of the cap is thus raised. The elasticity of the material causes the cap to draw back to its original shape, so that it tends to raise farther and remove itself from that side of the mounting cup lip originally engaged by the tooth.

A preferred embodiment and the manner of its operation will be apparent from the description which follows and the drawings hereof, in which:

' FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the cap embodying the present invention, taken partly from above.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged bottom View of the cap.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view, partly olfset and rotated, taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2. Dashed lines indicate a container and mounting cup, the latter broken away at its outer portion where a suitable valve would be mounted.

FIGURE 4 is a further-enlarged, fragmentary view of that portion of the inside of the cap indicated by line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the cap portions which twist when the lever is pressed inward, shown broken away from the remainder of the cap.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view, partly in section, illustrating the position of the parts relative to a mounting cup, shown in dashed lines, as the lever is pressed inward.

FIGURE 7 is a View similar to FIGURE 6, showing a later stage of removal.

FIGURE 8 is a top view of a cap formed similarly to the cap of FIGURE 1, but with its entire lower portion molded slightly out-of-round.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view through the cap of FIG- URE 8, showing the position of its parts relative to a mounting cup as the tooth is disengaged and the cap returns elastically to out-of-round condition.

The general construction of a cap embodying the invention in preferred form, may be understood by comparing the perspective view FIGURE 1 with the bottom view FIGURE 2 and the sectional view FIGURE 3. The cap may be considered as part of a combination with the standard type of valve mounting cup designated a shown in dashed lines in FIGURE 3. This type of mounting cup is characterized by having at its outer periphery an annular lip b including a rounded upper lip surface c and ending in a downward outer edge d. Such standard mounting cups are formed of coated sheet metal, so that the rounded upper surface 0 fits over the mouth 2 of a dispensing container generally designated 1. The mounting cup a is sealedly affixed within the container mouth e by crimping the mounting cup wall g (which extends downward within the annular lip 12) outwardly within and against the container mouth e. It will be seen that the downward outer edge d of the annular lip 12 is so positioned relative to the outer side of the container mouth e as to present, in profile, an undercut designated h, which is engaged by the teeth of the cap hereinafter described.

The cap itself is generally designated 10. It is formed in one piece by molding a plastic material possessing elasticity, as well as a substantial degree of toughness in torsion. Polyethylene material, of a grade which is neither soft nor rigid, may be advantageously used. Adjacent to the bottom of the cap is a generally circular, nearly cylindrical skirt 11 terminating downwardly in a lower edge rim 12, having projecting teeth as hereinafter described.

Shown to the left side of FIGURE 2 are two fixed teeth 13 which project inward from the skirt rim. These are spaced from each other a distance less than one-third of the periphery of the cap. Opposite and mid-way between them is a locking tooth 14, to which fuller reference will be hereafter made. The fixed teeth 13 and locking tooth 14 are formed as a portion of the rim 12 and project inwardly from it so as to engage the undercut h beneath the downward edge d of the annular lip b.

The outer periphery of the annular mounting cup lip 21 fits spacedly inside (i.e., radially inward of) the inner surface of the skirt 11, whose periphery is generally greater than the outer periphery of the mounting cup lip b. To hold and space the cap 10 in place, and yet permit it to deflect as hereinafter described, the inner surface of its skirt 11 is provided with a plurality of vertical ribs 15 spaced angularly from each other and located along that portion of the skirt periphery between the fixed teeth 13 and the locking tooth 14. While two such ribs are shown on both the upper and lower sides of the view of FIGURE 2, the spacings between the ribs 15 and from the locking tooth 14 are as important as the ribs 15 themselves, so that the skirt 11 may deflect outof-round. A single rib 15 on each side of the skirt would therefore suflice to permit such out-of-round deflection; whereas it is important to avoid too many ribs which, by reason of their close spacing, might effectively prevent such deflection.

Each of the ribs 15 has a downwardly-and-outwardly tapering lower end 16 at the skirt rim 12, to serve as a camming surface which slides over the rounded lip surface c both as a guide to easy engagement and to aid in disengagement, as hereinafter described.

The provisions for disengaging the cap will now be described. Directly above the locking tooth 14 the skirt 11 is substantially thickened inwardly to provide a pressure pad 17, whose mid-portion projects inward somewhat farther to serve as a slidable camming face 18, best seen in FIGURE 5. The pressure pad 17 presents its slidable camming face 18 sufiiciently far inward and upward from the locking tooth 14 to bear slidingly against the rounded lip surface c when the tooth 14 is withdrawn from the undercut h. Accordingly, the pressure pad 17 and its camming face 18 are hereinafter referred to together as the camming portion. A perforated line 19 is formed through the skirt to extend over the locking tooth 14- and over and around the pressure pad 17 and its camming face 18. As shown in FIGURE 4, the line 19 is divided in two parts by a small, top central retaining tag 20 which is readily fractured by the consumer the first time he removes the cap.

The lower ends of the perforated line 19 are spaced above the rim 12 on both sides of the tooth, leaving beneath such end a short retention band 21. By reason of the toughness in torsion of the polyethylene material, the retention bands 21 serve as twistable connectors to the remainder of the rim, which permit the operation hereinafter described.

Joining the outer surface of the skirt 11 immediately outward of the pressure pad 17, as shown in FIGURE 5, and serving in effect as a solid outward extension thereof, is a lever base portion 22 of an upward-and-outwardly extending lever generally designated 23. In the present embodiment, the lever 23 consists merely of said base portion 22 and, at its outer side, a flat finger pad 24 including an upwardly-extending outer surface 25, presented normally slightly downward from vertical, as shown in FIGURE 3. The perforated line 19, as it extends upwardly from the retention bands 21, extends over the juncture of the lever base portion 22 with the outer surface of the skirt, leaving the retention bands 21 intact. After the retaining tag 20 has been fractured, the perforated line 19 demarcates an aperture or window, designated 26, through the skirt portion, into which the lever base portion 22 may rotate (as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7) about the retention bands 21. For this reason the lever base portion 22 is narrower and lower than the aperture 26; and the inner surface of the finger pad 24 is flat to permit a maximum degree of rotation.

Referring to FIGURE 6, when the finger pad 24 is pressed inwardly, rotating the lever base portion 22 into the skirt aperture 26, the slidable camming surface 18 presses against the rounded mounting cup lip surface 0. Were it not for the toughness of the retention bands 21, the movable parts would break out. Instead, the skirt rim 12 is deflected somewhat elongatingly at the locking tooth 14. This action, together with the rotation of the tooth 14 about the retention bands 21, withdraws the tooth 14 from the undercut it. As is apparent from FIGURE 6, continued force exerted on the finger pad 24 causes the camming surface 18 to slide upward, over and radially inward along the rounded lip surface 0, thereby lifting the cap rim on the side of the locking tooth 14.

When the rim has been raised slightly beyond the position shown in FIGURE 6, the tapering lower ends 16 of the ribs 15 progressively come into camming engagement with the rounded lip surface and the elasticity of the cap material, acting on the elongatingly deflected skirt, draws the skirt back to roundness, causing the tapered lower ends 16 to slide cammingly and raise the side of the cap to the position shown in FIGURE 7. In this position, the fixed teeth 13 tend to slip out from beneath the undercut I: presented by the downward edge d of the mounting cup a. The disengagement of the cap is thereby completed.

Tighter engagement and a snappier feel on disengagement may be provided by molding the cap skirt slightly out of round, as shown in FIGURES 8 and 9. In the embodiment there shown, the parts otherwise correspond precisely with those heretofore described; and therefore the identification of them is not repeated here; but in referring to parts in the embodiment of FIGURES 8 and 9 the superscript will be used.

Referring to FIGURE 8, it is seen that the lower portion of the cap 10', commencing in the wall immediately above the skirt and extending down through the skirt 11', is molded progressively out of round so that the diameter at the rim 12', if measured at the locking tooth 14, will be somewhat less than if measured at 90 from said tooth.

A cap so molded out of round may nevertheless be readily engaged onto the mouth of the container at the time the container is filled, by pressing slightly inwardly at points 90 from the locking tooth 14 and thence downward over the rounded mounting cup lip surface 0'. The disengagement of the cap proceeds precisely in the same fashion as has heretofore been described in the reference to FIGURE 6. As the camming surface 18 proceeds radially upward and inward, lifting the cap rim, the elasticity of the skirt 11 tends to draw the skirt back to its original out-of-round form. Aided by the sliding of the tapering lower ends 16' of the ribs the cap 10' fairly snaps off the mounting cup.

As to both of the embodiments described, the elasticity and toughness of the material permits such caps 10, 10' to be reused repeatedly without impairment of the action described.

It is believed that the present combination of features affords a utility and ease of operation never before provided in any container closure. The user merely squeezes cap and the finger pad 24 together, and disengagement seems almost automatic.

Modifications will suggest themselves to those familiar with the art. Accordingly, this specification is not to be construed narrowly, but rather as broadly co-extensive with the claims.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. For use on a container of the type having an annular lip undercut on its radially-outer side,

a cap formed of plastic material characterized by toughness in torsion,

and having a skirt terminating in a continuous lower the skirt having a locking tooth formed as a portion of and projecting radially inward from the rim, whereby to engage such undercut,

a camming portion on the radially-inner surface of the skirt above the tooth portion,

a lever having the base portion form integral with and projecting outward from the outer surface of the skirt in registration with the tooth portion and camming portion,

the skirt having a line perforated therethrough and interrupted by a fracturable skirt portion, said line extending over and downward alongside the outer surface of the skirt the tooth and camming portions and the lever base portion,

said line having lower ends spaced above the rim on both sides of the tooth,

whereby on fracture of said fracturable portion an aperture is formed into which the lever base is rotated by twisting the parts of the rim below the lower ends of the perforated line.

2. For use on a container of the type having an annular lip including a rounded upper lip surface and undercut on its radially-outer side,

an integrally molded cap having a skirt terminating in a continuous lower rim,

the skirt having a locking tooth formed as a portion of and projecting radially inward from the rim,

whereby to engage such undercut,

a slidable camming portion on the radially-inner surface of the skirt above the tooth portion, a lever having a base formed integral with and projecting outward from the outer surface of the skirt in registration with the tooth portion and slidable camming portion,

and a line perforated through the skirt and interrupted by a fracturable skirt portion, extending over and downward alongside the tooth and camming portions and lower base portion,

said line having lower ends spaced above the rim on both sides of the tooth,

whereby on fracture of said fracturable portion an aperture is formed into which the lever base is rotatable by twisting the parts of the rim below the lower ends of said perforated line.

3. For use upon the mouth of a container, the combination comprising a dispensing-valve mounting cup having at its outer periphery an annular lip ending in a downward edge whereby an undercut is presented,

the lip having a rounded upper surface, and

an integrally molded cap having a generally circular skirt terminating in a lower edge rim,

the inner skirt surface having a periphery greater than the outer periphery of the annular lip of the mountmg cup,

there being a plurality of ribs extending inward from the said inner skirt surface to the periphery of the mounting cup,

the ribs being spaced angularly from each other, whereby to permit the skirt to deflect therebetween out of round,

the skirt further having a locking tooth formed as a portion of and projecting radially inward from the rim, whereby to engage said undercut,

a slidable camming pressure pad portion on the radiallyinner surface of the skirt above the tooth portion,

a lever having a base portion formed integral with and projecting outward and upward from the outer surface of the skirt in registration with the tooth portion and slidable camming portion,

and a line perforated through the skirt and extending over the tooth and camming portion and base portion,

said line having lower ends spaced above the rim on both sides of the tooth,

whereby force exerted on the lever and transmitted through the camming portion against the lip surface twists said portions beneath the line and deflects the skirt rim elongatingly at the tooth portion, thereby Withdrawing the tooth portion from the undercut.

4. The combination defined in claim 3,

the cap material possessing elasticity,

the ribs having downwardly and outwardly tapering lower ends at the skirt rim,

whereby, as the elasticity of the elongatingly-deflected skirt returns the skirt to roundness, the tapering lower ends of the ribs slide cammingly over the rounded lip surface.

5. The combination defined in claim 3,

the cap material possessing elasticity,

the generally circular skirt being originally formed out of round suificiently so that when not engaged upon the mounting cup, its diameter as measured at the tooth is less than its diameter measured at from the tooth,

whereby when the tooth portion is withdrawn, the elasticity of the skirt tends to restore this skirt to its original out of round form and thereby to snap the cap off the mounting cup.

6. An integral cup having a skirt terminating in a lower edge rim including a portion having a locking tooth projecting inward,

an aperture through the skirt immediately above said toothed rim portion,

whereby the parts of the rim adjacent to said toothed rim portion on both sides are constituted as twistable connectors to the remainder of said rim,

a pressure pad portion within the aperture projecting inwardly above the tooth and having an inner camming face,

a lever base portion projecting outward from the pressure pad portion and movable into the aperture on angular rotation about the twistable connectors,

and a finger pad at the outer side of the lever base portion,

whereby inward force applied to the finger pad rotates the lever base portion, pressure pad portion and toothed rim portion about such twistable connectors and thereby efiects disengagement of the locking tooth.

7. An integral cap having a skirt terminating in a deflectable lower edge rim including a portion having a locking tooth projecting inward,

an aperture through the skirt immediately above said toothed rim portion,

whereby the parts of the deflectable rim adjacent to said toothed rim portion on both sides are constituted as twistable connectors to the remainder of said rim,

a pressure pad portion within the aperture projecting inwardly above the tooth and having an inner camming face,

a lever base portion projecting outward'from the pressure pad portion and movable into the aperture on angular rotation about the twistable connectors,

and a finger pad at the outer side of the lever base portion,

whereby inward force applied to the finger pad rotates the lever base portion, pressure pad portion and toothed rim portion about such twistable connectors and deflects the rim elongatingly, and thereby effects disengagement of the locking tooth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,028,992 Bucher et a1 Apr. 10, 1962 

1. FOR USE ON A CONTAINER OF THE TYPE HAVING ANNULAR LIP UNDERCUT ON ITS RADIALLY-OUTER SIDE, A CAP FORMED OF PLASTIC MATERIAL CHARACTERIZED BY TOUGHNESS IN TORSION, AND HAVING A SKIRT TERMINATING IN A CONTINUOUS LOWER RIM, THE SKIRT HAVING A LOCKING TOOTH FORMED AS A PORTION OF AND PROJECTING RADIALLY INWARD FROM THE RIM, WHEREBY TO ENGAGE SUCH UNDERCUT, A CAMMING PORTION ON THE RADIALLY-INNER SURFACE OF THE SKIRT ABOVE THE TOOTH PORTION, A LEVEL HAVING THE BASE PORTION FORM INTEGRAL WITH AND PROJECTING OUTWARD FROM THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE SKIRT IN REGISTRATION WITH THE TOOTH PORTION AND CAMMING PORTION, THE SKIRT HAVING A LINE PERFORATED THERETHROUGH AND INTERRUPTED BY A FRACTURABLE SKIRT PORTION, SAID LINE EXTENDING OVER AND DOWNWARD ALONGSIDE THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE SKIRT THE TOOTH AND CAMMING PORTIONS AND THE LEVER BASE PORTION, SAID LINE HAVING LOWER ENDS SPACED ABOVE THE RIM ON BOTH SIDES OF THE TOOTH, WHEREBY ON FRACTURE OF SAID FRACTURABLE PORTION AN APERTURE IS FORMED INTO WHICH THE LEVER BASE IS ROTATED BY TWISTING THE PARTS OF THE RIM BELOW THE LOWER ENDS OF THE PERFORATED LINE. 